TransferWise is taking a long time to reach KBank

[scubascuba3]

All Thai banks? Don't they vary at all?
 
Thanks, btw.

This shows the current rates for the banks. 0.23 baht difference between the best and worse rate

[VBF]

Thanks to all of you who replied to my recent enquiry about TW. (# 75) and subsequent comments.

 

Successfully sent a £10 test transfer on 27th December 2018. Because my UK Bank is not on Faster Payments and because of the NY weekend this arrived in my SCB account Jan 2nd 2019  - exactly as TW said it would.

 

So i then sent a "proper" transfer (£5K) on Jan 2nd approx 10:00 GMT but used my Debit Card so the money left my account and went to TW immediately. 
This arrived n my SCB account on Jan 3rd -approx 02:00 GMT - so timing was excellent - no delay there - everything happened as TW' s emails said they would

 

No additional fees deducted by SCB (it is a Baht Transfer so why would they?) and this is now transparent unlike when I sent money direct from my bank.

 

Debit Card attracted a fee of about £10 but that was my choice to use - in future I may use a different account but my bank tell me that they are finally adopting Faster Payments in 2019.

 

The rate I got compensated for the additional fees - I paid TW a total of £38.77. My bank would have charged me £25 and taken 3 days to send it - so I paid an extra £13 to get a better and guaranteed rate. Not sure exactly how much I saved, but I reckon it was about 5000 Baht.

 

So thanks and Choc Di to all who responded ????

[BritManToo]

22 minutes ago, VBF said:

No additional fees deducted by SCB (it is a Baht Transfer so why would they?) and this is now transparent unlike when I sent money direct from my bank.

I always sent Baht from my UK bank and can assure you the Thai banks made a charge for a foreign deposit.

[VBF]

17 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I always sent Baht from my UK bank and can assure you the Thai banks made a charge for a foreign deposit.

Yes but with TW, it's NOT a foreign deposit because TW  convert from UKP to THB and then send the Baht from their associates in Thailand to your Thai bank.

(Look at posts #68 and 70)

 

THAT @BritManToo is what the people who have been using TW for a while, were explaining to me, a newbie, and is why I'm now extolling their virtues.

 

I can promise you that in my case, the amount of Baht that TW told me I would receive before I initiated the transfer was EXACTLY what was deposited in my SCB account - to the Satang! I kept the emails and took screenshots as I progressed through the process (pardon my OCD ????)

 

 

[scubascuba3]

Yes but with TW, it's NOT a foreign deposit because TW  convert from UKP to THB and then send the Baht from their associates in Thailand to your Thai bank.

(Look at posts #68 and 70)

 

THAT [mention=205314]BritManToo[/mention] is what the people who have been using TW for a while, were explaining to me, a newbie, and is why I'm now extolling their virtues.

 

I can promise you that in my case, the amount of Baht that TW told me I would receive before I initiated the transfer was EXACTLY what was deposited in my SCB account - to the Satang! I kept the emails and took screenshots as I progressed through the process (pardon my OCD [emoji849])

 

 

Just don't use Transferwise and the like if you need an FET for a condo purchase.

 

For £5k Transferwise doesn't beat using a Halifax Clarity card

 

[VBF]

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Just don't use Transferwise and the like if you need an FET for a condo purchase.

 

For £5k Transferwise doesn't beat using a Halifax Clarity card

 

Interesting......

I'll never be buying property in Thailand so that warning doesn't apply - but thanks anyway.

 

Are you saying that using the Clarity Card gives you a better rate AND lower charges?

Is that using it in ATMs or OTC in Thailand?

Do you pre-load it to avoid interest?

Do you need to bank with Halifax or is it available to all UK residents?

[scubascuba3]

 

 

 

Interesting......

I'll never be buying property in Thailand so that warning doesn't apply - but thanks anyway.

 

Are you saying that using the Clarity Card gives you a better rate AND lower charges?

Is that using it in ATMs or OTC in Thailand?

Do you pre-load it to avoid interest?

Do you need to bank with Halifax or is it available to all UK residents?

 

Halifax Clarity credit card uses the Mastercard rate with no commission, its better than the TT booths in Pattaya which are generally good. When i compared with Transferwise the Clarity rate beat the net Transferwise rate (including charges). You need to find a friendly bank and withdraw from the counter.

 

I withdraw the amount and 5 mins later deposit into my thai bank account. Beat that settlement?

To avoid interest make an internet bank transfer to your Clarity account the same day (takes 5 minutes), check a couple days later what the official rate is and adjust if need be.

 

Its available to all UK residents

 

[VBF]

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

 

 

 

 

 

Halifax Clarity credit card uses the Mastercard rate with no commission, its better than the TT booths in Pattaya which are generally good. When i compared with Transferwise the Clarity rate beat the net Transferwise rate (including charges). You need to find a friendly bank and withdraw from the counter.

 

I withdraw the amount and 5 mins later deposit into my thai bank account. Beat that settlement?

To avoid interest make an internet bank transfer to your Clarity account the same day (takes 5 minutes), check a couple days later what the official rate is and adjust if need be.

 

Its available to all UK residents

 

????Another option for next time - thank you.

[sometimewoodworker]

On 12/26/2018 at 4:47 PM, VBF said:

Much obliged, @billd766 

So the fee for TW is over £28 and my bank charges me £25 however much (or little) I send, therefore it's the rate that's the important factor. That's what I shall have to research further. ???? I have asked the same question on another thread....replies are all interesting!

Edited December 26, 2018 by VBF

No the fee isn't £28 except in that one case. The fee is variable and by the time you are getting into the thousands it will go as low as 0.5%, for small transfers £100 is an example the fee is about 2.6% but you also have the exchange rate which is extremely good.

 

the only cheaper way in my research was, for an example £9,000 amount, to exchange cash at the green superrich head office  and even the you would only gain about ฿1,200 but would have all the difficulties that surround cash.

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I always sent Baht from my UK bank and can assure you the Thai banks made a charge for a foreign deposit.

But you are making an international transfer and TW avoids that as the deposit is local

[VBF]

8 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

No the fee isn't £28 except in that one case. The fee is variable and by the time you are getting into the thousands it will go as low as 0.5%, for small transfers £100 is an example the fee is about 2.6% but you also have the exchange rate which is extremely good.

 

That was what I meant! My bank would charge me £25 for that or any other case/amount. TW was £28 in that case which allowed for a valid comparison for the amount I wanted to send at that time.  See my #92 above - all sorted.

[sometimewoodworker]

2 minutes ago, VBF said:

That was what I meant! My bank would charge me £25 in that and any other case. TW was £28 in that case which allowed for a valid comparison for the amount I wanted to send at that time.  See my #92 above - all sorted.

And not only would your bank charge you but also the thai bank would have.

 

FWIF I'm also a TW user 

[VBF]

13 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

And not only would your bank charge you but also the thai bank would have.

Which is what I implied in my #92 when I said "No additional fees deducted by SCB (it is a Baht Transfer so why would they?)" My earlier transfers from my UK bank clearly DID attract SCB charges none of which were easy to weed out but had the overall effect of worsening the effective rate.

 

As you know, TW wins over bank transfers on many counts which is why I posted to thank those who responded to my earlier questions.

[billd766]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Just don't use Transferwise and the like if you need an FET for a condo purchase.

 

For £5k Transferwise doesn't beat using a Halifax Clarity card

 

But that only works IF you have a Halifax Clarity card.

 

Not everybody does.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

No the fee isn't £28 except in that one case. The fee is variable and by the time you are getting into the thousands it will go as low as 0.5%, for small transfers £100 is an example the fee is about 2.6% but you also have the exchange rate which is extremely good.

 

the only cheaper way in my research was, for an example £9,000 amount, to exchange cash at the green superrich head office  and even the you would only gain about ฿1,200 but would have all the difficulties that surround cash.

Well that is what TW quoted me and I assume that they know what they are talking about.

[scubascuba3]

But that only works IF you have a Halifax Clarity card.
 
Not everybody does.

The point of the post is to highlight there is a better way, Clarity being one example, if you can't get one, oh well

[billd766]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

12 minutes ago, billd766 said:

But that only works IF you have a Halifax Clarity card.
 
Not everybody does.

The point of the post is to highlight there is a better way, Clarity being one example, if you can't get one, oh well

Exactly my point.

 

Also if you don't pay off your balance in full you will be charged interest on the outstanding balance,

 

Anyone however can apply for a TW account whether you live in the UK or not.

 

With the TW account you are charged no interest and no transfer will take place unless there are enough funds in your account.

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, billd766 said:

Well that is what TW quoted me and I assume that they know what they are talking about.

As I said there is no standard fee with TW it is completely variable and depends on how much, from where, and to where the transfer is taking place. So true for  one particular amount.

 

[DiDiChok]

I know that for Thailand their charge is 0.55% plus £1.50 for the ฿.

[VBF]

22 hours ago, billd766 said:

Anyone however can apply for a TW account whether you live in the UK or not.

 

I don't know, but one thing that may, repeat, may prevent non-UK residents getting a TW account is that when I applied for mine, TW stated that they had to "Confirm my Identity" in the same way that UK banks do.

I allowed them to do it online and it was done in less than 1 minute - presumably they interrogated the UK Electoral Register, again in the same way that UK banks do. But I do not know what would have happened if they couldn't identify me in that way.

Presumably by my uploading copies of PP or.......???   

And again, Presumably, TW does the same thing in, say, USA for new account holders - do they?

Just a thought....

[Pib]

17 minutes ago, VBF said:

I don't know, but one thing that may, repeat, may prevent non-UK residents getting a TW account is that when I applied for mine, TW stated that they had to "Confirm my Identity" in the same way that UK banks do.

I allowed them to do it online and it was done in less than 1 minute - presumably they interrogated the UK Electoral Register, again in the same way that UK banks do. But I do not know what would have happened if they couldn't identify me in that way.

Presumably by my uploading copies of PP or.......???   

And again, Presumably, TW does the same thing in, say, USA for new account holders - do they?

Just a thought....

Here is what TW says is required for ID docs.   For me as a US account holder I just provided my passport photo page.

 

https://transferwise.com/help/topics/8/questions/2548525/what-will-you-need-for-id-verification

Quote

What will you need for ID verification?

By providing us a copy of your ID document we are able to confirm your identity and satisfy our verification requirements as a regulated financial institution. Confirming your identity also helps us keep your money safe and secure.

We need to see a document that shows your photo, full name, date of birth, signature and the document's expiry date and full machine readable zone (MRZ - the two lines of letters and numbers at the bottom). The copy you upload needs to be high quality, and the document can't be expired.

You can upload it safely and securely here.

Valid documents are:

• Passport (photo page only)
• National ID Card
• Photo driver's licence

Everything on the document needs to match your TransferWise profile, and if the quality isn't good enough we'll request a better copy. And nothing can be covered or censored. If one of the pieces of information we need is on the back, then please upload a copy of that too.

Verification should be done within 4 working days.

All data, financial details, or documents you provide us are stored securely, encrypted and kept private as per our privacy policy. Protecting your information is very important to us.

 

 

[tonyevans]

My Kasikorn Bank records the Transferwise deposit as a Smart Credit not as an International transfer as it works using a two transfer system First transfer UK bank to Transferwise London. Second transfer Transferwise Bangkok to Kasikorn Pattaya. Has anyone yet been to Immigration to see if this is acceptable or will the Kasikorn Bank need to confirm it is an international transfer. This is for the requirement to deposit minimum 65,000 baht each month per the new requirements.

[Adomval]

So I tried to accept a transfer from a Spanish bank today made through transferwise to my Kbank account but TW asked me to write the bank's IBAN number. Kbank doesn't have an IBAN so I went to a Kbank franchise to ask them how to proceed. They said that instead of using IBAN they use SWIFT code and told me to try with that. It didn't work so they suggested to call to the call center to get further support, which I did. They said there's nothing I could do to receive the transfer in my Kbank account through TW. Now I see a lot of users in this forum who successfully used TW to send money to their Kbank account so, how did you avoid the IBAN step? Thanks in advance.

[BritManToo]

28 minutes ago, Adomval said:

So I tried to accept a transfer from a Spanish bank today made through transferwise to my Kbank account but TW asked me to write the bank's IBAN number. Kbank doesn't have an IBAN so I went to a Kbank franchise to ask them how to proceed. They said that instead of using IBAN they use SWIFT code and told me to try with that. It didn't work so they suggested to call to the call center to get further support, which I did. They said there's nothing I could do to receive the transfer in my Kbank account through TW. Now I see a lot of users in this forum who successfully used TW to send money to their Kbank account so, how did you avoid the IBAN step? Thanks in advance.

You choose the Thai receiving bank from the drop down menu in Transferwise when you set your Transferwise account up.

[Moonlover]

On 12/25/2018 at 10:35 PM, VBF said:

I'm about to send some money (about £5K) from the UK to my SCB account. Previously, I've just let my bank transfer it at the prevailing rate and deduct the £25 fee.

This year I'm thinking about using Transferwise but have yet to set it up.

I will be checking their website, but is it really that much cheaper?

 

Also has anyone any experience of https://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com/ ?

 

Thanks.

Yes, I've just run the sums through an Excel spreadsheet I have for just this purpose.

 

Your bank transfer will result in (in rounded numbers) 190,240 THB

 

TranserWise right now will result in 193,955 THB. That's you 3,715 THB better off.

 

You might, at first be put off when you see that T/W will charge 30 GBP, but that is more than offset by the more favourable exchange rate.

 

 

[keithcresswell]

Just an update to Transferwise speed. I haven't used them for some months due to the foreign transaction problem however I needed some extra money so I did a transfer from the UK to SCB last Thursday. Transferwise said it would arrive Monday which was disappointing but I went ahead and pressed send. Three minutes later I got a notification from SCB that the money had arrived.

 

[Jip99]

15 minutes ago, keithcresswell said:

Just an update to Transferwise speed. I haven't used them for some months due to the foreign transaction problem however I needed some extra money so I did a transfer from the UK to SCB last Thursday. Transferwise said it would arrive Monday which was disappointing but I went ahead and pressed send. Three minutes later I got a notification from SCB that the money had arrived.

 

 

 

Did you select the “Funds for long term stay in Thailand” option from the drop down box for reasons for transfer.

[keithcresswell]

2 hours ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

Did you select the “Funds for long term stay in Thailand” option from the drop down box for reasons for transfer.

General expenses

[dabhand]

2 hours ago, keithcresswell said:

Just an update to Transferwise speed. I haven't used them for some months due to the foreign transaction problem however I needed some extra money so I did a transfer from the UK to SCB last Thursday. Transferwise said it would arrive Monday which was disappointing but I went ahead and pressed send. Three minutes later I got a notification from SCB that the money had arrived.

 

Now, that is good service.

 

What time did you  set up the transfer with TW?

[Jip99]

51 minutes ago, keithcresswell said:

General expenses

 

 

The ‘funds for long term stay in Thailand ‘ obviously helps with Immigration - but I have heard takes longer to process ?

 

I may try that option next time.